Doomsday, already? Highest levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere in 3 million years

The last time this happened, we did not even exist. Mankind has no handbook on how to survive this horrible scenario it seems to have scripted for itself. Also, the repercussions are likely to be harsher now.

An increase of 10 parts per million might have needed 1,000 years or more to come to pass during ancient climate change events. &nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspGetty Images

Okay, then, mankind! The party's over. Here's the shocking bill. Reform or perish! The choice is yours. Scientists in the United States have detected the highest levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere since records began, says a report in AFP. The report that cites the findings of the US scientists that peg the level of CO2 as detected on Saturday morning at 415.26 parts per million (ppm), a figure that sounds new alarm over the relentless rise of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

If that fails to shock us or shake us out of our reverie, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii that tracks atmospheric CO2 levels since the late 1950s has more details in store. It says: "The last time Earth's atmosphere contained this much CO2 was more than three million years ago when global sea levels were several metres higher and parts of Antarctica were blanketed in a forest."

Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii says CO2 in Earth's atmosphere now is at the deadliest level in 3 million years.

EXPERTS WARN OF DEADLY FALL AHEAD
Even Ralph Keeling, the director of Scripps CO2 Program has warned: “Every year it goes up like this we should be saying 'No, this shouldn’t be happening. It’s not normal." This increase is just not sustainable in terms of energy use and in terms of what we are doing to the planet.”

The AFP report also states the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii warning that this shocking level of CO2 is just not sustainable. Wolfgang Lucht, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) told AFP: "It shows that we are not on track with protecting the climate at all. The number keeps rising and it's getting higher year after year. This number needs to stabilise."

BUT ARE WE LISTENING?

Ralph Keeling, the director of Scripps CO2 Program says mankind does not seem to be on the path of stabilising these shocking levels of CO2 -- one of a trinity of greenhouse gases produced when fossil fuels are burnt. In fact, the CO2 levels are climbing ever more rapidly. He even told AFP that the trend would probably continue throughout 2019 -- likely to be an El Nino year in which temperatures rise due to warmer ocean currents.

"The average growth rate is remaining on the high end. The increase from last year will probably be around three parts per million whereas the recent average has been 2.5 ppm. Likely we're seeing the effect of mild El Nino conditions on top of ongoing fossil fuel use," Keeling said.

To a high level of probability, the last time CO2 levels were at 415 ppm (several million years ago) human ancestors looked something like this... pic.twitter.com/zYNZdDvaky

WHO OR WHAT IS TO BLAME?
Fossil fuels, indiscriminate use of this not really endless resource is choking the Earth. But apart from that, Professor Keeling also lauds an Indian-origin scientist - Scripps Oceanography researcher Veerabhadran Ramanathan - who had warned way back in 1975 of aerosol sprays and made it to the New York Times front page but again sidelined for at least another 25 years since then.

We, for one, note the 1975 front page coverage of the work of current Scripps Oceanography researcher Veerabhadran Ramanathan on the greenhouse effect of aerosols. Very prescient of the Times to cover an issue that didn't really gain widespread attention for another 25 years.

WHY SHOULD WE BE SCARED?
Oh, we should be scared, very scared. What that means is that Earth might react even more strongly to the increases in CO2 measured by the Keeling Curve. Desperate times warrant desperate reactions. We need to act fast as the extreme speed at which carbon dioxide concentrations are increasing is unprecedented.

An increase of 10 parts per million might have needed 1,000 years or more to come to pass during ancient climate change events. But that may not be the case in the present circumstances and the scientists calculating the eventual effect must take into account the slower effects of climate change on the sunlight-absorbing properties of the planet, such as ice sheet melt and changes in plant cover on land, says https://scripps.ucsd.edu. In the current scenario, the planet is poised to reach the 1,000 ppm level in only 100 years if emissions trajectories remain at their present level.

“Our grandchildren will inhabit a radically altered planet, as the ocean gradually warms up in response to the buildup of heat-trapping gases,” said Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego geoscientist Jeff Severinghaus to the Scripps Oceanography Institute. Will we survive this? This tweet says how mankind handled it earlier.

We did not even exist then. And now we have scripted this. Be concerned, very, very concerned.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way represent those of Times Network.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way represent those of Times Network.

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Doomsday, already? Highest levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere in 3 million yearsDescription:The last time this happened, we did not even exist. Mankind has no handbook on how to survive this horrible scenario it seems to have scripted for itself. Also, the repercussions are likely to be harsher now.Kirti Pandey